


Of Baskets and Braids

by DawnsEternalLight



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Bruce and Dick watch youtube and chat, Damian shows up too, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Late night fluff with sleepless boys being a family with their dad, Plot What Plot, basket weaving, chatting, snuggles, youtube videos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 07:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20597306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight
Summary: Dick can't sleep so he goes to find Bruce, and they get lost watching Youtube videos





	Of Baskets and Braids

Post patrol at the manor was usually a sleepy affair. Unless something particularly messy had happened, reports were finished quickly, showers were taken, snacks were had, and everyone was in bed in due order.

It should be bedtime for Dick, but he wasn’t sleepy yet. There was no real reason, he was simply still awake. He had a number of potential solutions to this problem at his disposal. Number one was going to bed anyway, two some soothing tea or cocoa, and three he could pretend he was ten again and sneak into Bruce’s room to talk late into the night.

Bruce was, of course, still awake.

He was sitting up in bed, a pillow propped behind him reading something on a tablet, a pair of glasses perched on the edge of his nose. He looked up and blinked owlishly as Dick walked in. As he recognized Dick, and saw no signs of distress or worry on his face, his eyes lit up and he let a small smile slip across his face.

“Dick.”

“Mind if I join you for a bit?” Dick asked, moving into the room anyway, “I’m not quite ready for bed.”

Bruce patted the open side of his bed, and Dick plopped down, settling to match Bruce, with his own pillow tucked behind his back as he leaned against the headboard. He kicked his feet under a blanket, and couldn’t help but think about how there always seemed to be room for a kid (or more) to fit on Bruce’s bed.

When he’d first moved in, Dick had learned that Bruce usually took up the whole bed on his own. He found him on more than one occasion star-fished out, or so tangled in blankets it was impossible to find the man, let alone a place to snuggle close. It had only taken a few nights of Dick arriving, sniffling from nightmares, for Bruce to start leaving a spot open. The shift was subtle, as with many things Bruce did to show his love. Bruce didn’t say anything, he simply made room. That offering of space had never disappeared. It was an unspoken promise to Dick, and then each kid after him, that they were always welcome to join Bruce, conscious or not.

Dick reached out and turned the tablet so he could see the screen, Bruce had some article pulled up, and a quick swipe of the screen showed it to be written by Clark Kent. Dick gave him a wry grin.

“Did he put his foot down about a tracker on his suit again?” Dick asked.

“It only makes sense.” Bruce grumbled, the ancient argument as fresh on his lips as the day it all started, “If he can keep track of me all the time, I should be able to do the same.”

Dick bit back a chuckle, “Ah, the joys of super-powered best friends. I bet you didn’t even suggest one for Diana.”

“She can’t hear me across the Earth.”

Dick made a doubtful noise, and leaned over, letting his head flop against Bruce’s shoulder, “Tell me about your day.”

“It was fine.”

“B.” Dick shoved his arm as he whined, “We haven’t talked in forever.”

Bruce grumbled, sighed, “We were late getting started this morning.” he started.

“Oh?” Dick perked up, sitting straight so Bruce could see his delighted expression, “Mr. Punctual was late to something?”

“Rude.” Bruce said, teasing, “It was the cat’s fault. He stole one of my socks.”

Dick chuckled, “And you couldn’t pick a different pair?”

“It was the principle of the matter.” Bruce huffed.

Bruce continued with his story, and Dick chimed every few moments to add commentary. Bruce didn’t seem to mind the interruptions. He never had. In fact, the more Dick peppered him with questions, the more open Bruce was, and the wider his smile grew. He didn’t smile the way Dick would, a grin pulling across his face, bright and happy, but the effect was the same. It was a soft smile, that Dick saw most often when Bruce didn’t think anyone was looking. One that said he loved Dick, and spending time with him.

Dick leaned closer to him, pressing so Bruce raised his arm to wrap around his shoulder, making room for him to fit snug. His dad sighed, a tiny quiet noise that said how content he was. Dick was content too. He hadn’t quite realized how tense he’d been until he’d sat down with Bruce.

It happened like that sometimes, Dick would go and go until he sat down one day and everything he’d been putting off and all the things he’d piled onto himself would land with a thud, and steal every bit of energy Dick had. Or it would creep in, slowly, like Damian when he was trying to be sneaky. There were times when Dick caught onto it and did something about the looming exhaustion, he was getting better at catching it. Today, he felt lucky to have Bruce to lean on.

Bruce squeezed Dick’s shoulder, “And you? How was your day?”

Dick considered telling Bruce right then and there that he needed a break. He knew if he didn’t slow down soon he’d collapse. But, he also didn’t want to lose the peace between them. The moment he brought up something important Bruce would be all tense again. Maybe relaxing here, both of them, was what he needed for now. Later or in the morning, he’d suggest staying a couple days and playing hooky from life and work in Bludhaven.

He launched into a full (and far more detailed than Bruce’s) description of his day. He was just getting into the argument he’d had over text with Donna about basket weaving when Bruce stopped him.

“An argument about basket weaving?”

Dick grinned at him, “Of all things yeah, we were discussing how to actually do it, and never really came to an agreement.”

Bruce chuckled lightly, “Want to find out?”

This perked Dick’s interest, because of course he did. He hadn’t had the time or energy to bother actually looking anything up earlier. It had been an argument in jest...mostly. Still he’d love to be able to send Donna the links they found later.

He settled in as Bruce clicked his tablet back on and navigated to youtube. His dad took a moment to remove his glasses and set them aside on the table. They sat together and fell into that strange space YouTube created where they navigated from real videos on basket weaving to kids making baskets out of trash bags, and tee shirt strips, and one guy who used licorice.

Even more than chatting, relaxing and watching dumb videos was making Dick realize how much of a break he needed. He decided that instead of waiting he’d talk to Bruce about things right away.

“B.” Dick started.

“Hm?” Bruce asked, still watching as a baker pulled a baked basket from an oven.

“I was thinking--”

Light brightened the dim room as the door opened and Damian stepped in. He paused for a moment, taking in both of them in the bed. Both Dick and Bruce froze, waiting on Damian. Bruce even muted the video they’d been watching. It only took a moment for Damian to continue forward, all confidence in his steps. It was a totally different reaction than Damian would have had back when he’d first come to live with them. Then he would have turned on his heel and fled. Now, it seemed he was comfortable enough to bring his problem to both of them.

Bruce’s bed was comically tall, especially compared to a kid, so when Damian made to climb up, it was an actual climb for him. He climbed up and stumbled flopping forward across Dick’s knee. Both Bruce and Dick held their breaths as Damian seemed to blink at them both, taking stock of his situation.

At last, he huffed, “Move your disgusting feet, Grayson.” His voice was thick and sniffly, as he pushed lightly at the feet in question.

Dick bit back a smile, and reached over to help Damian move to fit snug between him and Bruce. He squeezed Damian close, catching sight of tear streaks on his cheeks and how red his eyes were in the light of Bruce’s tablet.

“What are you two watching?” Damian tugged the tablet into his own lap, obviously more interested in distracting himself than talking about his reason for coming by in the middle of the night, “Really, Father, there are far better basket weaving videos than those taught by a child with a lip ring.”

Apparently the video had changed to feature a teenager surrounded by baskets. It looked like a school project, with a big black tarp in the background, and exaggerated acting. Dick wasn’t even sure the lip ring was real.

“And what do you know about basket weaving?” Dick teased.

Damian gave him an imperious look, “It was an extracurricular activity in the League. I won a prize for best basket.”

Dick coughed out a surprised laugh, throwing a hand over his mouth to giggle at Damian’s joke. He glanced at Bruce who seemed to not know what to do with this piece of information. It was-- it had to be a joke right? Dick couldn’t see Talia actually thinking basket weaving was a great life skill for Damian.

His brother’s beaming face, told Dick his reaction had been right. He tugged Damian closer and ruffled his hair, “You’re turning out pretty funny, you know that?”

“Tt. I have always been funny.”

Bruce was wearing his own smile now, one that was a bit mischievous, “He gets it from me you know.”

Dick grinned back, “And you got it from me.”

“Brat.” Bruce said.

Damian laughed, shaking both of them, and letting the tablet fall back onto the bed unattended.

Bruce reached over and tickled Damian’s side, “Both of you are brats. You should respect your elders.”

The laugh turned into a shriek of delight, and Damian tried to lean into Dick to get away from Bruce’s tickles. Dick in turn caught Damian and tickled his other side, eliciting more laughter, and little feet kicking at them both.

Damian tried to argue, but only got “Traitors” out between gasped breaths and giggles.

He flailed, first trying to curl close to the pillows, and then kicking out. He caught the tablet with a thwack! Dick saw it arc up, but Bruce was faster. He stopped tickling Damian to catch the errant screen before it tumbled off the bed. Damian’s eyes went wide, and he pushed himself up, lips pressed tightly as he waited for his father’s reaction.

“That’s enough excitement for one night. Why don’t we watch someone we all agree is funny, and then go to sleep?” Bruce suggested, clicking the screen on.

Damian relaxed, slumping against the pillow and nodded.

“As long as that someone is John Mulaney, then yes.” Dick agreed.

He tucked himself and Damian into the bed as Bruce got the video ready. Despite the content, Damian was asleep before things had gone very far, curling into Bruce’s side to snore lightly. It seemed like whatever had been bothering him had been sufficiently banished by laughter and tickles. And if it wasn’t, well Dick could pull it out of him tomorrow. Tonight, he’d let Damian sleep.

“I think I’m going to stick around for a few days.” Dick said, voice quiet so he didn’t wake Damian.

Bruce looked over at him, really looking over him. He nodded, “Good, I didn’t want to have to ask Damian to hold you down in the morning.”

Dick should have known Bruce would pick up on his mood, voiced or not. He smiled, “It would have been very effective. Damian’s gotten very good at getting people to stay in one place.”

Bruce reached out and ran a hand through Damian’s hair, “He has.”

After a few minutes Bruce spoke up again, “Thanks for coming by tonight. It was good to sit and chat.”

“Always, B. You know how I love to talk.”

Bruce chuckled, and leaned over to kiss Dick’s forehead, “Yes, I do. You’re always welcome to come home, and to rest here as long as you need, you know that right?”

“Course I do.” Dick said, yawning.

“I think it’s time for bed.” Bruce said, catching Dick’s yawn with one of his own.

The tablet screen went dark as Bruce clicked it off and set it on the nightstand with a light thump. Both he and Dick laid down. As they moved, Damian mumbled and shifted to bury himself further into Bruce’s side, legs curling so his toes brushed Dick’s leg.

Dick snuggled into his pillow, one arm wrapped under it, the other finding one of Damian’s hands to hold. Once Bruce settled, he looped an arm around them both, tugging Dick and Damian close to him.

Minutes ticked by, and while Dick was sleepy, he wasn’t that sleepy, and a thought had popped into his head, “Hey, Bruce? What do you think about basket weaves for hair?”

“Go to sleep, Dick.” Bruce’s voice was muffled.

“I wonder if Diana knows anything about it. Or Donna. I bet she’d give me a tutorial.”

This prompted Bruce to raise himself up on his elbow, “It would make sense for them to have a number of various pleating techniques.” his voice was thoughtful.

And with that, both Dick and Bruce talked in hushed tones about hair until Dick’s answers grew shorter and shorter, and he dropped into sleep, dreaming about Amazon’s doing stand up and Bruce with hair long enough to braid.


End file.
